LEADING EVENTS IN THE CAREER OF THE SOCIETY, FOR 1906, OR OF SPECIAL
INTEREST TO THE MEMBERS.
Jan. 4. Death of P. J. Kenedy, New York, senior member of the firm
of P. J. Kenedy & Sons, publishers. Mr. Kenedy was a member
of the Society.
Jan. 6. The U. S. gunboat _Hist_ arrived at the Charlestown (Mass.)
navy yard today from Newport, R. I. Chief Boatswain Hugh
Sweeney, who was in command, immediately turned the vessel
over to Boatswain Patrick Shanahan and returned to Newport.
Jan. 10. Thirtieth meeting of the council of the Society is held
this evening at Providence, R. I. Hon. Thomas Z. Lee of
Providence presides.
Jan. 10. Following the council meeting just mentioned the members
and friends partook of dinner at the Narragansett Hotel,
Providence.
Jan. 18. Annual meeting and dinner of the Society. The event took
place at the Hotel Manhattan, 42d Street and Madison Avenue,
New York.
Jan. 18. A dinner to James McMahon was given at the Waldorf-Astoria,
New York, tonight, by the officers of the Emigrant
Industrial Savings Bank, that city. Mr. McMahon retires from
the presidency of the bank after fourteen years’ service. He
is a member of the Society.
Jan. 29. Death of Ambrose F. Travers, New York, a member of the
Society.
Feb. 1. Governor Swanson of Virginia is inaugurated. He has
appointed Hon. Joseph T. Lawless, of Norfolk, a member of
the Society, to be a colonel on his staff.
Feb. 4. Capt. James Connolly of Coronado, Cal., a member of the
Society, writes to Secretary Murray that he has contracted
with a Boston publisher to bring out a volume of verse
entitled “The Jewels of King Art,” in commemoration of a
famous Irish monarch.
Feb. 18. John A. McCall, a life member of the Society, dies at
Lakewood, N. J.
Feb. 21. Rev. John F. Leary, rector of St. Michael’s Church, Chapman,
Kan., and chaplain of the Grand Army of the Republic, died
on this date. He was a native of Ogdensburg, N. Y. During
the Civil War he served as a member of the Fifteenth New
York Engineers. That was before he became a priest. He was
in the engagements at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and
Appomatox. Though he was wounded at Bermuda Hundred, he was
able to get back to his regiment in time to be in at the
finish at Appomatox Courthouse. Father Leary was elected
chaplain-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic at the
national encampment held last September.
Feb. 28. George T. Little, librarian of Bowdoin College, requests a
copy of Volume II of the Journal of the Society for that
institution. He states that the college is already in
possession of the other volumes of the series.
March. Rev. Cyrus Townsend Brady, LL. D., of the Society, is the
author of a volume brought out this month entitled, _The
True Andrew Jackson_. It is illustrated, comprises 503
pages, and is dedicated as follows: “To that most useful and
eminent citizen, John D. Crimmins, and our fellow-members of
the American-Irish Historical Society, I dedicate this
appreciation of the greatest among the many of Irish lineage
who have contributed to the upbuilding of the republic.”
March 2. The State Historical Society of Missouri, by its secretary,
expresses a desire to secure copies of the publications of
our Society.
March 8. Cyril Crimmins, a son of Hon. John D. Crimmins, New York,
becomes a life member of the Society.
March 9. Frederick H. Hild, librarian of the Chicago Public Library,
writes that the library is desirous of having a complete set
of the Journal of the Society, and also copies of such other
publications as may be issued.
March 12. The Rhode Island state house commissioners granted this
afternoon, permission to the Society to erect a tablet in
the edifice to Gen. John Sullivan of the Revolution.
March 13. The Providence (R. I.) _Evening Tribune_ contains an
interesting article on the memorial tablet which the Society
purposes erecting in the state capitol, Providence, to
Maj.-Gen. John Sullivan of the Revolution.
March 14. An article on Maj.-Gen. John Sullivan is published in the
Providence (R. I.) _Evening Tribune_ today, accompanied by
his portrait.
March 15. Most Rev. Robert Seton, titular archbishop of Heliopolis,
lectured at the Irish College, Rome, today, on The Irish in
America. Among those present was Cardinal Michael Logue,
archbishop of Armagh, and primate of all Ireland.
March 24. A despatch from Montreal, this date, states that the Oakhall
restaurant, corner of St. Peter and Notre Dame streets, that
city, was burned out last night. Special interest centres
in the fact that the building was occupied in 1775 as the
headquarters of Gen. Richard Montgomery and staff of the
American army in Montreal.
March 28. Melvin G. Dodge, librarian of Leland Stanford Junior
University, California, wishes copies of Volumes I and III
of the Journal of the Society for that institution. He
writes us to that effect.
March 31. Gaelic Notes in this week’s New York _Irish World_ has the
following: “Now that the question of teaching Irish history
in the schools has again come to the front, we would repeat
the suggestion made by us a couple of years ago to the
American-Irish Historical Society, that in no possible way
could it so promote the objects for which it is organized as
by the preparation of a popular text-book of the history of
the race in America, suitable for the use of schools. The
Society has the material for doing this; it could do it
without loss to itself, and with great profit to the race,
which it would thus have put under a debt of gratitude.”
April. Death of Gen. M. T. McMahon at his home in New York City.
He was a judge of the New York Court of General Sessions
at the time of his death. He had practised law in New York
for many years and was a fine speaker, but he was known
chiefly as a soldier. He was educated at St. John’s College,
Fordham, from which he graduated in 1855, and then went
to Buffalo, where he studied law in the office of Eli Cook,
then mayor of the city, in company with Grover Cleveland,
since president of the United States. Although able to pass
the examination, he was too young to be admitted to the
bar, and he became a correspondence clerk in the general
post-office at Washington. In President Buchanan’s
administration he was appointed special post-office agent
to the Pacific coast. He was admitted to the bar at
Sacramento in 1861. At the first call for troops at the
breaking out of the Civil War he raised the first company
of cavalry on the Pacific. He was elected captain of the
company, but when it was decided that the company should
not go to the front he resigned and went to Washington.
He was made a captain in the regular army and an
aide-de-camp to Gen. George B. McClellan, whose bosom friend
he remained until “Little Mac’s” death. He served in every
engagement in which the Army of the Potomac took part. When
the Sixth Corps was disbanded he was adjutant-general and
chief of staff. He also served under Generals Franklin,
Sedgwick (who was killed at the Wilderness), Baldy Smith
and Wright. He received the congressional medal of honor
for bravery at the battle of White Oak Swamp. Congress also
presented him with a jeweled sword for conspicuous bravery
at Spottsylvania and other battles. At the close of the
war he was assigned as adjutant-general under General Dix,
to the Department of the East. He resigned in 1866 and
became corporation attorney of New York City. President
Johnson made him minister to Paraguay. In 1879 he ran for
Congress against Robert B. Roosevelt and was defeated. Two
years later he was appointed receiver of taxes by Andrew
H. Green, then comptroller. He was United States marshal
for the Southern District of New York under President
Cleveland. After that he was an assemblyman and a state
senator. For years he had been one of the managers of the
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. In 1896 he
was elected judge of the Court of General Sessions. General
McMahon was a Fenian and was ready for service in Ireland.
He was also a member of the Clan-na-Gael in its earlier
days. His brother, John E. McMahon, who was attorney-general
and adjutant-general of New York state under Governor
Seymour, was colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth
New York Volunteers, which he raised in Buffalo at the
outbreak of the war. The regiment was later consolidated
with the Phœnix Zouaves, a Fenian regiment, and McMahon
became colonel. It was part of the Corcoran Legion. Col.
John E. McMahon was killed at the siege of Suffolk, Va., in
1863. The other brother, James P. McMahon, was a captain in
the Sixty-ninth with Thomas Francis Meagher, later became
lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth New
York, and was promoted to be colonel of the One Hundred and
Sixty-fourth New York, in place of his brother, Martin. He
remained in command of the latter regiment until he was
killed in a charge at the battle of Cold Harbor on June 3,
1864.
April. About this time is issued from the Blanchard Press,
Worcester, Mass., a volume entitled: “A Study in the
Etymology of the Indian Place Name Missisquoi.” The author
of the work is George McAleer, M. D., of Worcester, a member
of our Society.
April. The _Munsey Magazine_ (New York) for this month has a paper
on the Irish in America by Herbert N. Casson.
April 7. Death today of Capt. Patrick S. Curry, Lynn, Mass., a
member of the Society. He passed away at Nashua, N. H.,
where he had been superintending the construction of a new
post-office building.
April 9. Daniel Walsh, a member of the crew of the _Monitor_ when
she fought the _Merrimac_, during the Civil War, died in
Lawrence, Mass. He was a native of Ireland.
April 18. Hon. James D. Phelan, ex-mayor of San Francisco, who is
a member of the Society, is appointed a member of the
Committee of Safety by Mayor Schmitz of that city, which
committee is rendered necessary by the great earthquake
and fire disaster.
April 18. E. Festus Kelly, of Northerwood House, Lyndhurst, Hampshire,
England, expresses his interest in a paper on “The New
Hampshire Kellys,” which appeared in Volume V of the Journal
of the Society, and desires a copy of the same.
April 20. Patrick J. Meehan, of Jersey City, N. J., editor of the
_Irish-American_ of New York, the oldest Irish newspaper in
the United States with the exception of _The Pilot_, and who
may be styled the Nestor of the Irish-American and Catholic
journalistic fraternity, died on this date.
April 20. A despatch from Lowell, Mass., today states that the
O’Sullivan Rubber Co., of that city, has wired $500 to the
mayor of San Francisco to aid the earthquake sufferers. The
check was signed by Treasurer Humphrey O’Sullivan, who is a
member of our Society, as is James O’Sullivan, president of
the company.
April 25. At Phalerum, Greece, today, Martin J. Sheridan of the
Irish-American A. C., New York, won the contest at discus
throwing. Giorgantas, a Greek, was second.
April 25. President Roosevelt, in a proclamation today, urges the
American people to now send their contributions for the
alleviation of the distress in San Francisco, directly to
ex-Mayor James D. Phelan, chairman of the finance committee
in San Francisco, instead of to the American Red Cross. The
proclamation goes on to say: “The need of employing the
Red Cross, save as an auxiliary, has passed, and I urge
that hereafter all contributions from any source be sent
direct to James D. Phelan, chairman finance committee, San
Francisco. Mr. Devine of the Red Cross will disburse any
contributions sent to him through ex-Mayor Phelan and will
work in accord with him in all ways.”
April 26. Reception this evening to Rear-Admiral John McGowan, U. S.
N., the new president-general of the Society. The event took
place at the residence of Hon. John D. Crimmins, 40 East
68th Street, New York.
April 28. An editorial in the _New Century_, Washington, D. C., this
date, says: “As an individual contributor to the San
Francisco relief fund, one notices an Irish name leading all
the rest—far and above in amount, the generosity of the
Rockefellers, the Astors and the Vanderbilts. The name is
that of James D. Phelan, who subscribed $1,000,000. And
this, notwithstanding that he himself lost $15,000,000 by
the fire. These great catastrophes always evoke
large-hearted acts and assure us that neither magnanimity,
public spirit nor courage have yet vanished from the face of
the earth. Mr. Phelan’s conduct proclaims him a man worthy
of his wealth. We learn, further, that he is a Catholic, a
graduate of a Jesuit college and that he was mayor of San
Francisco from 1896 to 1902. As he is only forty-five years
of age, we shall hope to hear more of him hereafter.”
April-May. A committee organized by Archbishop Farley, of New York,
for the relief of the San Francisco sufferers, has been
very successful. Among the members of the Society who have
contributed to the fund, together with the amount given by
each, are the following: Archbishop Farley, $1,000; Hon.
John D. Crimmins, $1,000; Hon. W. Bourke Cochran, $1,000;
Eugene Kelly, $1,000; James S. Coleman, $300; Francis J.
Quinlan, M. D., $250; Hon. Morgan J. O’Brien, $250; Edmond
J. Curry, $100; J. Henry Haggerty, $100; all of New York.
Mr. Crimmins is treasurer of the fund.
May 3. Warren Upham, secretary and librarian of the Minnesota
Historical Society, St. Paul, Minn., writes that the
organization is desirous of possessing a complete set of the
Journal of the American-Irish Historical Society.
May 5. The New York _Irish-American_ for this week has the
following relative to our San Francisco member, ex-Mayor
James D. Phelan: “In San Francisco the man of the hour in
whose hands is the management of the great relief fund,
and under whose executive direction the important movements
that are to lift the stricken city up from the depths and
rebuild her shattered fortunes have already been begun,
is that well-known Irish-American, James D. Phelan, former
mayor of the city. Although his personal and business losses
must reach millions, it is reported that he has devoted
the sum of $1,000,000 out of his private fortune to employ
the afflicted laboring people of his native city. Mr.
Phelan, whose father was one of the men who made San
Francisco rich and famous, was born in 1861, and was
educated at St. Ignatius College, in that city, where he
graduated with honor, after a four years’ course of study.
He then entered as a student at the law department of the
University of California, of which he is also a graduate.
He was selected mayor of the city, as a Democrat, in 1896,
and served until 1902. His régime was marked by zeal and
ability in the public service. The Democrats of the state
Legislature complimented him with their nomination for
United States senator a few years ago. He is one of the
leading capitalists of the United States, and has numerous
commercial and mining interests. He is president of the
Mutual Savings Bank and the finest business block in San
Francisco, situated on Market Street, bore his name. It
withstood the shock of earthquake, but the resulting fire
reduced it to a mass of smoking ruins. Mr. Phelan has been
for years a generous supporter of the Irish cause and has
stood by both Parnell and Redmond with his influence and his
money. His father aided in receiving Terence Bellew McManus,
John Mitchel and Thomas Francis Meagher when those patriots
escaped from the British penal settlements in Australia and
sought liberty and new careers in America. No city has been
more generous in aid of Ireland than San Francisco and its
people, of all races, are renowned for their hospitality
and liberality, and foremost among those who offered that
hospitality has always been James D. Phelan. In the new city
that is to rise triumphant from the ashes of the present
disaster his grateful fellow-citizens will no doubt give him
every honor in their bestowal.”
May 12. The funeral took place, at Boston today, of Patrick E.
Flood. He was a member of the crew of the U. S. S.
_Kearsarge_ when she fought the _Alabama_.
May 29. John F. Sweeney, Buffalo, N. Y., becomes a life member of
the Society.
May 30. In the old Granary burying ground, Boston, this morning,
was unveiled a slab marking the burial place of those who
fell in the Boston massacre of March 5, 1770, and of a boy
who was killed on the previous February 22. The modest slab
of slate is in keeping with the other memorials in this
historic burying ground. It was erected by Boston Chapter,
S. A. R., and is the first permanent marker that has been
placed over these graves. Dr. Samuel Crowell, president
of the Boston Chapter, unveiled the slab with a brief
introductory speech, presenting Dr. Moses Greeley Parker
of Lowell, president of the Massachusetts Society, who
congratulated Boston Chapter on the work it has done and
is doing. Edward W. McGlenen, city registrar, of the
committee, gave a brief historical sketch of the events
leading up to the massacre, including the shooting of the
boy, Christopher Snider, by the British soldiers, who fired
into his father’s house. Little attention has been paid in
history to the killing of this boy, called on the slab “the
innocent first victim of the struggles between the colonists
and the crown.” The slab stands close to the grave of Samuel
Adams and is in plain view from the street. The inscription
reads:
+-------------------------------------------+
| The Remains of |
| SAMUEL GRAY |
| SAMUEL MAVERICK |
| JAMES CALDWELL |
| CRISPUS ATTUCKS |
| and |
| PATRICK CARR |
| Victims of the Boston Massacre |
| March 5th, 1770 |
| Were here interred by order of the |
| Town of Boston |
| Here also lies buried the body of |
| CHRISTOPHER SNIDER |
| aged 12 years |
| Killed February 22nd, 1770 |
| The innocent first victim of the struggle |
| between the Colonists and the Crown |
| which resulted in |
| INDEPENDENCE |
| Placed by Boston Chapter, S. A. R. |
| 1906. |
+-------------------------------------------+
June 4. Hon. Arthur P. Gorman passed away this morning in
Washington, D. C. He was the senior United States senator
from Maryland and was the Democratic leader in the upper
branch of Congress. Deceased was a native of Woodstock, Md.,
and was born in 1829. His grandfather, John Gorman, came to
Pennsylvania from Ireland in 1784 and settled in Harrisburg.
June 13. John J. Coffey, of Neponset (Boston), Mass., passes away. He
was a member of the Society and took much interest in the
work of the latter.
June 15. Death of Hon. Michael J. Sullivan, a member of the executive
council of the governor of Massachusetts, at his home in
Boston. He worked his way through the Boston University
Law School and continued his legal studies in the office
of the Hon. Patrick A. Collins, afterwards mayor, and was
in July, 1898, admitted to the bar. He was elected a member
of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1898, and
re-elected in 1899. He served on the important committee
of metropolitan affairs and represented Mayor Collins on
that committee, looking after the interests of the City
of Boston. He was a candidate for the state Senate in 1900,
but was defeated. In the following year he was chosen a
member of that body, and re-elected in 1902. He was a member
of the governor’s council in 1904, 1905 and the present
year. Governors Bates, Douglas and Guild, in whose councils
Mr. Sullivan served, had high admiration for him. In June,
1905, he was in charge, officially, of the Massachusetts
delegation to the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland,
Ore. The state was represented at the funeral by Governor
Guild, Lieutenant-Governor Draper and members of the
executive council, Senate and House, and the city by Mayor
Fitzgerald and members of the board of aldermen and common
council, and men connected with the different departments.
July 18. Death of Patrick F. Sullivan, Boston, Mass., a member of the
Society.
July 23. Hon. John J. Flaherty of Gloucester, Mass., a justice of the
Superior Court of Massachusetts, died today.
Aug. 22. Rev. Denis P. O’Flynn, New York City, a member of the
Society, passes away.
Aug. 26. Death of Col. O’Brien Moore, Tucson, Ariz., a life member of
the Society.
Aug. 29. Col. James Quinlan, a member of the Society, passes away at
his home in New York City.
Sept. 25. Richard Deeves, New York, contributes $100 to the Permanent
Fund of the Society.
Oct. 1. William Pigott, Seattle, Wash., becomes a life member of the
Society.
Oct. 12. The Ninth Massachusetts Regiment, under command of Col.
William H. Donovan, starts for New York City to participate
in the dedication of the new armory of the Sixty-ninth
Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y. With the Ninth went a number of
invited guests, including Mayor Fitzgerald of Boston, Mayor
Duggan of Worcester, Mayor Casey of Lowell, Mayor Kane of
Lawrence and other Massachusetts gentlemen.
Oct. 13. Dedication in New York City today of the new armory of the
Sixty-ninth Regiment. Mr. Justice James Fitzgerald of the
New York Supreme Court, a member of our Society, presided.
Oct. 21. John C. Sullivan, registrar of probate for Plymouth County,
Mass., was accidentally killed tonight by being struck by a
trolley car. He was sixty-four years of age and had been
registrar of Plymouth County for many years. Born in
Ireland, he came to this country alone when a small boy. He
attended the local schools and later Peirce Academy and
Brown University, the latter in Providence, R. I. He
enlisted during the Civil War and served out his full term,
being a good soldier and comrade. After the war he was
admitted to the bar.
Oct. 29. Death today of Hon. Robert T. Davis, M. D., of Fall River,
Mass., a member of the Society.
Oct. 29. Reuben G. Thwaites, secretary and superintendent of the
State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., writes
to us saying: “Thank you most cordially for your kindly gift
of books and pamphlets to our library. We shall certainly
appreciate them very much indeed. We trust that you will
continue to favor us with your several publications, as we
have a very large, growing, and much used collection of
material in the field in which your Society works.”
November. The American-Irish Historical Society this month receives an
invitation from the American Historical Association to send
a representation to a conference of historical societies to
be held in Providence, R. I., December 26–29, 1906.
Nov. 2. William Doogue, superintendent of public grounds, Boston,
Mass., passed away this evening. He was a member of the
Society.
Nov. 5. It is stated that the Hon. Morgan J. O’Brien, presiding
justice of the appellate division of the New York Supreme
Court, today filed his resignation with the secretary of
state at Albany. Judge O’Brien will become a member of a
prominent New York law firm.
Nov. 6. The Hon. James H. Higgins, mayor of Pawtucket, R. I., is
today elected governor of Rhode Island. He is the first
Catholic to be elected to the office.
Nov. 6. Joseph F. O’Connell, a member of the Society, is today
elected to Congress from the Tenth Massachusetts district.
Nov. 6. Patrick J. McCarthy, a member of the Society, is today
elected mayor of Providence, R. I.
Nov. 21. The secretary of the State Historical Society of Missouri
writes that he has forwarded us the first number of a
quarterly review just issued by his society and that they
shall be glad to place us on their regular mailing list, and
to receive from us copies of such publications as our
Society may issue.
Nov. 23. The librarian of the public library, St. Louis, Mo., writes
for two volumes of the Journal of the Society to complete
the library’s set.
Nov. 23. Anniversary of the birth of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence. He was of Irish parentage.
Nov. 29. Anniversary of the birth of Charles Thomson, the “perpetual
secretary” of Congress; a native of Ireland.
December. Hon. George F. O’Neil, Binghamton, N. Y., becomes a life
member of the Society.
Dec. 2. Died on this date, in 1783, Thomas Burke. He was a native of
Ireland, and was chosen governor of North Carolina in 1781.
Dec. 11. A meeting of the council of the Society is held this evening
in Providence, R. I.